Downsizing to build up the kitty

[ErBrown]

Howdy folks,

My wife and I have recently taken our first...second big step towards our cruising dream. Since real estate in Austin has absolutely blown-up over the last couple year, we just moved out of our great downtown condo, so we can rent it ASAP.

For the last several years we've spent our weekends in downtown close to work and everything fun and our weekends out at our little place on lake LBJ. I wrote about this in more detail on our blog (a major work in progress) but in short we both have mixed emotions on the whole move. We know it's a necessary step to make the life we want a reality but it's the first major life change we've had to make to help fun the dream. So it's mixture of excitement mixed with a bit of pain. When we're making the 3 hour round trip on the days we can't work from home...it's going to be tough (we're used to being 10 minutes from everything). But the fact that every year we're able to rent the condo will pay for another year of cruising, will hopefully be enough motivation to keep us focused on the prize.

Anyway, just thought I'd share that the sacrifices needed to make cruising a reality aren't always fun ones. But we sure hope the end result is worth it.

[Dennis.G]

Great plan.

Do yourself a favor and stop calling it a sacrifice. You are simplifying your life and removing the burden of maintaining two living spaces. You are putting money in the bank. These are things that of course you realize. Tell yourself that you are doing yourselves a favor instead of making a sacrifice. Just the words will make it feel better.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Taking steps to get there tells me that you guys won't just be like the majority of dreamers that never make it because they won't do what it takes.

Congratulation on Step 2

[awaywego]

We also have made big life changes in the past two years to fund the kitty and to prepare ourselves for more simple living. Our changes have been completely based on the philosophy of mrmoneymustache.com. Don't know if you've read his stuff, but everyone should!


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[Mike OReilly]

Life off the beaten, and defined path, is not easy. But it sounds like you've made a great start, and are committed. We're running a parallel, but rather different route. We just became (or will soon become) officially land-homeless, so the only "roof" over our heads will soon be our boat. This has been the plan all along, but it's become very real in the last few days, and hence a bit more scary.

Sounds like you have a good plan, and most importantly, that it is shared by the both of you. Congrats Enjoy the journey. Life isn't going to be full of giggles all the time. As long as you're aiming at a life that you both cherish, then the sacrifices are worth it.

[ErBrown]

Good stuff Mike. That's definitely our plan as well, though our plan is to keep the condo and rent it while we're gone, the location is desirable enough that it should be fairly easy to keep rented. Then we know we always have something to come back to, if needed. Once we get closer to our go date, we will have to sell the house though and I'm sure when the day comes to do that and move aboard full time it will be stressful but super exciting.

Y'all must be pretty pumped at this point, I mean the freedom of knowing you can pretty much go anywhere must be great...and a little overwhelming. Still, it sounds to me like you are a very exciting stage, I hope you'll keep us in the loop as you make the transition.

I know we're looking very forward to our turn. As had been said here I guess mentally focusing on the changes required to get there as positive steps is the key. They're not all easy, or fun but very necessary to get where we want to go.

Thanks,
Erin

[Pirate999]

Great second move.. It's called freedoms. You own stuff or it owns you...

Funny, a friend of mine just moved into a condo in downtown Austin to be near his office. His house was out by the kake and the commute was killing him.

My commute is about 10'.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by ErBrown

Good stuff Mike. That's definitely our plan as well, though our plan is to keep the condo and rent it while we're gone, the location is desirable enough that it should be fairly easy to keep rented. Then we know we always have something to come back to, if needed.

Sounds like a good plan to me Erin. My situation is fairly odd. If I could keep, and rent out, a land-based home, I'd probably do it. But for complicated reasons, that's not possible.

But yes, the idea of getting back to owning very little is enlivening and freeing. A bit scary, but mostly it feels pretty darn good. I'll certainly try to keep posting as we move along. Maybe I'll even start a bloggy thing too . And good luck with your plans. Sounds like you're well on your way. Hope we cross wakes one of these years.

[SV THIRD DAY]

You also have to remember there are different types of Cruisers and people typically assume that most others are "like them" or "like us" who post on the Cruisers Forum and share tips on how to stretch a nickle into a dime.

Type 1: Full Time
Sells or rents the house. Downsizes, sells off or gives away most of the **** they have and put the things they can't bear to part with in storage. The boat is their only bed so they live aboard 365/yr and when they make trips back to the States they sleep at a friends house to save money.

Type 2: Part Time
Keeps the House (or houses) so they can come and go from the boat to the house when they like. Spends anywhere from 3-6-8 months per year on the boat and only in the prime time season. They Fly home for the holidays or to meet their family in Europe for "vacation". They don't downsize, they don't get rid of **** and they don't participate in the "Can I cruise on $500/mo threads".

Which of Type 1 or 2 is the real cruiser?
Well both are happy and doing what they enjoy so I'm happy to put my arm around them as a fellow cruiser, despite the cat calls from the "real cruiser police" that say to be a real cruiser you have to live aboard 365/yr and recycle your coffee grounds into a bilge deodorizer or be able to strip down your diesel engine in the dark while blindfolded.

[ErBrown]

Good point Third Day.

Our current plan would be to move into type 1 of the 2 you outlined. If we could afford to keep a house full of our stuff ready to jump back into at anytime, we'd definitely do it. But if we want to exit the corporate world and focus more on the little things and enjoying our time here, then that's not really a long term option for us. But, we console ourselves with the idea that we're never more than 12 months away from being able to move back into our condo.

I've never really understood the underlying belief here on CF or in many books that if you need creature comforts like AC, microwave, water maker, then you must not be a real cruiser. I appreciate you pointing out the same thing, to me if you want to and can afford it then more power to you. Our plan to live aboard full time when we leave to cruise will be out of necessity to make the kitty last as long as possible. Not because we're super hardcore about our idea of cruising, but because we'd like to be free to explore as we see fit and don't have millions stashed away, but if we did I'm sure the plan would be different.

For us, it's all about getting out and doing something we enjoy and spending time in places most people never get a chance to see, with no agenda and minimal land based encumbrances...with a bit of a safety net. So we're right there with you and are happy to raise a glass with anyone from charter customers, to weekenders, to full time hardcore cruising pros. At this point, we can probably learn a bit from everyone and worst case...we enjoy just kicking back and chatting with new folks.

[ErBrown]

Well, we just spent the our Saturday cleaning, scraping, taping and painting the condo to get it nice and prettied up for our upcoming renters. Still another day or so of painting to go and then we'll be getting it listed ASAP.

So we're viewing that as positive progress towards the goal.

-EB

[ErBrown]

Well after a few delays on our part, we just signed our first renter to a 1 year lease on the condo. The commute has been somewhat brutal to get used to, but its nice to have some positive influence on the kitty since it's all been in the wrong direction with our recent projects.

Long live the cruising kitty.

-EB

[crazyoldboatguy]

Originally Posted by ErBrown

Well after a few delays on our part, we just signed our first renter to a 1 year lease on the condo. The commute has been somewhat brutal to get used to, but its nice to have some positive influence on the kitty since it's all been in the wrong direction with our recent projects.

Long live the cruising kitty.

-EB

We just sold our house - had lived in it since 1998. Now in a small apt until I retire in November. My boat is a massive project but a whole lot of fun. With hope, the cruising kitty can supply the boat bucks needed without emptying it! Good luck to you!

[rpmbnsf]

This is a good thread and seems to be a great one for my first post.

We are in a similar situation to others that have posted. We have spent a lot of time researching the "right" boat for us. then going to boat shows and sailing a few and have settled on what we would like. Oh, and of course lurking on great forums like these

Second step is downsizing. Our son will be graduating and going to college next year so we are getting the house ready for selling even if it sells before our son graduates, plan to pay cash for a smaller home and get our first boat with the extra cash (not pay totally for it). This will be one where we can charter out at times to offset the cost (hopefully a good chunk of it?) but not let it get abused like the full out charter ones you see in the BVI's. We plan to keep it in FL close enough to fly to for long weekends (4-5 days) and a few longer trips 3 or 4 times per year to learn to sail better and get certifications out of the way. This boat we will roll into getting the one we will live on after about 5 years. The 100% live on one will be timed to be when i retire. So I guess my steps are a bit more stretched out but we are still excited about all of this.

[msponer]

Good luck with fattening up the cat!

I also enjoy MrMoneyMoustache. He really resonated with me when I was deciding whether or not to sail and travel instead of work. I like his can-do attitude, resilience, and flexibility.

Well, I hope you get to go soon. It seems like your job may allow a 'work-play-work-play...' cycle. That would be super cool.